


paper rings

by impasgirlfriend



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hateno Village, Light Angst, Oneshot, Post-Calamity Ganon, Song: Paper Rings (Taylor Swift), Soulmates, Teenage Dorks, Zelda has Anxiety, Zelda has a Small Injury, anxiety attack, blood mention, zelink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29182932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impasgirlfriend/pseuds/impasgirlfriend
Summary: based on the lyrics of paper rings by taylor swift
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	paper rings

The moon was high, like Zelda’s friends were the night that she first met Link. He had been identified as the one chosen by the sword. The Master Sword who would seal away the darkness alongside the princess herself and there was a celebration in his honour. Zelda’s friends had gotten carried away with the celebrating. 

She remembers asking her father everything he knew about him the next day. Learning that he had been working as a knight in the castle before he pulled the ancient sword and accepted his destiny. 

Zelda was sat on her side of the bed in their small home in Hateno Village. There was a pile of books on the floor beside her belonging to Link but she had been reading them one by one in the past few weeks since she got here. Since Link saved her and all of Hyrule from Calamity Ganon.

The wine was cold Zelda thought as she took another sip. Which reminded her of how cold she was to Link when he was first appointed her personal knight. She would try run away while he was guarding her. It’s like they were playing cat and mouse for a month or two or three.

Zelda looked over to Link who was also in the bed, sleeping on his side. She observed as he breathed in and out while in deep slumber. She wondered what he was dreaming about. 

She had woken up in the middle of the night and didn’t feel like she could go back to sleep yet so she poured herself a glass of wine downstairs and brought it back to her bedside table, deciding to do some more reading while the boy she loved so dearly rested next to her. Zelda never felt more at peace.

————————————

It was winter time in Hyrule and the pond beside the Hateno home was icy but not frozen. Link thought it would be fun to jump in and Zelda followed. It was extremely cold and she watched as his face turned a blue colour which took her back to the time they painted the walls in their bedroom. 

It was just a few days after they returned from the castle and Zelda felt uneasy sleeping in the room that previously was a burgundy colour which reminded her of malice and malice reminded her of Ganon. Being stuck inside him again. 

After she expressed this to Link he rushed into town and bought the most vibrant sky blue paint that he could find and they spent the day painting the walls covering up the horrid colour that rested on them.

The two practically sprinted from inside the pond, stumbling from the cold. But they were laughing. Moments like these is what Zelda really enjoyed lately, these moments where her and Link were just two teens doing silly things. Things they couldn’t have done 100 years ago when she was a princess and he was her appointed knight and they had their responsibilities and nothing else to think about.

They stood tall, shaking, trying to dry themselves with a towel. Without their destinies tied, their fights and flaws they wouldn’t be here. Together, living like he wasn’t the Hero of Hyrule and she wasn’t the future Queen. Right now they were just two teenagers living in a normal home in a village filled with normal people. 

For even just a little bit they were getting to enjoy this freedom before Zelda would have to take on the responsibility of rebuilding Hyrule and accepting the crown. She hoped Link would stay by her side. He had no reason to, he already fulfilled his duty. Link freed her and saved all of Hyrule from Ganon’s clutches. 

She wouldn’t be shocked if he just wanted to spent the rest of his years leading a quiet life. Which wasn’t very Link she thought. He loved adventure and fighting monsters. But maybe he wanted to do that alone. Zelda would be upset but she would hide it and accept whatever decision he was to make about his future even if it meant leaving her side. 

When Zelda confessed her true feelings to Link just days after they arrived in Hateno, she didn’t expect him to feel the same way. She was risking ruining their friendship just to finally not live a lie. 

But he shyly told her he felt the same way. Link loved her as much as she loved him. They were both filled with massive euphoria as they shared their first kiss straight after his love confession. 

However Zelda worried if their relationship would last, if she became Queen it would only be right for Link to be King or atleast live in the castle alongside her. But she didn’t know if that’s what Link wanted and she was filled with a pool of anxiety when she thought about asking him this or anything about the future. So Zelda put off this conversation for as long as she could. 

————————————

It was evening and the two were preparing dinner. Zelda was cutting up carrots when the knife slid and dug slightly into her finger. She let out a small scream as it hurt and bled onto her hand and the freshly sliced carrots. 

Link rushed over to her to see what was wrong. He told her it would be okay, accidents happen, it was just a small cut and he would take care of the carrots. He then wrapped her finger in a cloth and helped her over to one of their dining chairs. 

Zelda hated accidents except when her and Link went from friends to this. 

She loved having him around all the time, just like before, but now she was able to kiss him whenever she pleased and hold him close and listen to his heartbeat when they lay in bed. 

Zelda wanted to ride away with him, just them and their horses exploring all of Hyrule. She wanted all his complications, and for him to feel comfortable enough to share them with her. She wanted to spend dreary Mondays doing chores around the house, singing and dancing while they do them together.

But right now all Zelda needed was Link to wrap his arms around her, hug her tight and never let go. There was no safer place than in his arms.

————————————

It was morning and Zelda had gotten up and dressed. It was time to put on the jewellery she wore almost every single day. She slide a ring onto her finger, which now had a mark from where the knife cut, it was her mother’s ring. Zelda’s mom passed away when she was only a little kid. She had found this ring in her mother’s jewellery box just a few days after she died. Zelda wore it ever since in memory of her mother. 

The ring was made from gold with a small gem. It was shiny and beautiful. She liked shiny things, Zelda was a princess after all. Wearing a ring felt so natural to her now and for a second she wondered would there soon be another on one of her other fingers. 

This thought stayed in Zelda’s head the entire day as her mind poked at the idea of marriage and if Link would be the one she marries. 

The two of them had gone to bed for the day but she stayed awake for hours thinking and thinking.

For her it made sense, she was with him now and she wanted to be with him forever. They hadn’t yet discussed these things as Link gave her much too much time to recover from the weak state she was in for a 100 years. Zelda was doing better with each week passed. She even felt ready enough to go and face her new found responsibilities. 

But she didn’t want to. Zelda wanted to stay here with Link in Hateno for atleast just a little bit longer so she didn’t tell him that she was truly better. 

She rolled in the bed. Her mind racing with unanswered questions as her eyes filled with water and tears came leaking out. Zelda could not stop it at this point and fully burst into tears. 

Her cries woke Link up and he sat up straight away when he realised she was crying and tried to calm her down. Zelda’s mind went blank and she wiped her eyes dry when she felt his touch. One of his hands rubbing her back and the other holding her hand. 

“Link do you want me?”.

This question took him by surprise. But before he could answer Zelda added “Do you want me like I want you?”. Link paused as he figured out what she was implying. 

“Ofcourse Zels, you’re the one I want”.

This brought back Zelda’s normal joyful expression to her face, but this one was more warm and loving. He wanted her. He would stay by her side. No matter what. 

Link proceeded to kiss her once cause he knew she had a long night. He kissed her twice cause it was going to be alright. Three times cause she waited her whole life. 

In paper rings, in picture frames, in all her dreams, it was always going to be Link and Zelda. Never one without the other.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i hope u enjoyed this short fic, i wanted to write some fluffy domestic zelink but somehow ended up with this. i always imagine zelda to be suffering from anxiety but maybe im just projecting onto her oops. i tried writing dialogue for the first time? it’s only like 3 lines but whatever also im slowly getting better at using tags i think so yay. aaand let’s ignore the uncreative title :p


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